The Georgetown Metropolitan

Photo of the Key Mansion by Streets of DC.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Yay! Jerry McCoy wins medal from the DAR!
• Thomas Sweet’s among the best ice cream in DC.

3200 block of S St.

GM decided to revive his occasional series “Why Not” to address an overlooked corner of Georgetown and consider what it could be: a biergarten.

The spot is a tiny recessed commercial building on Wisconsin Ave., just north of Q St. The setback building creates a forecourt, but it also creates a challenge. The retail space has seen a recent succession of stores coming and going: including a tea shop, a lingerie shop, a christmas tree lot, and most recently a consignment shop (which just closed). Book Hill has challenges drawing foot traffic, and that side generally draws even less foot traffic than the east side. Add that to the setback, and it makes for a difficult space for a shop to succeed in.

So GM wonders if that forecourt couldn’t be better used, and what better way than a biergarten? There are few places in Georgetown to enjoy a cold beer outside, and the ones that do exist are mostly down closer to M St. Continue reading →

Photo by Bill Cecil.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• View of DC from Georgetown, in 1865.
• Art Vandalay…of Georgetown.

Montrose Park

This week in Old Georgetown in Color, GM brings some vibrance to Georgetown University’s nineteenth President, Patrick Francis Healy.

Healy left his mark on the college, overseeing the construction of the massive building that was named after him. But what he later became more well known for was the fact that he was born a slave (the child of his slave owner and his multi-racial slave mother) and thus he was the first African American to earn a Phd., become a jesuit, and serve as president of a predominantly white university.

Healy served as GU president from 1872 – 1883. He lived from 1830 – 1910.

(And the reason GM keeps doing Old Georgetown in Color pieces on GU items is that they have such a rich photographic archive!)

Photo by Michael Cisneros.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• The BID misses out on some funding for its gondola project, but the study should go ahead as planned.
• New Bikeshare station down on Water St.

Georgetown University

Photo by WCP.

Back in September, GM was saddened to pass along the message he received from a Dolcezza worker: that once the store’s production equipment was moved to Union Market, the Georgetown location would close.

At the time, GM did a little digging and discovered that that was not exactly true, but learned that the store was nonetheless considering leaving this location (where it was founded in 2003).

GM noticed this week that the for sale sign was taken down and seating was added to the second floor. He reached out and received confirmation that they are planning to remain. And the new seating upstairs in fact reflected the store’s expanded coffee service (the Dupont Dolcezza is much more of a coffee shop than the original shop, and this is probably a move to bring some of that innovation home). Continue reading →

Photo by Oren Levine.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Great profile of Jean-Pierre Sarfati of Jean-Pierre Antiques.
• Georgetown gets a couple mentions in a list of ways to enjoy the water. One of GM’s favorites is taking the water taxi back from a night Nats game.